Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies with Spelt Flour

I am always looking for new recipes and ideas for cookies. I would rather use whole grains and unrefined sugars but I still want that “cookie experience.” These are chewy, not too sweet, use oil instead of margarine and loaded with chocolate chips. The recipe is from “Vive le Vegan” cookbook and is also posted online. Dreena Burton is very original and always uses whole grains. This recipe uses whole wheat pastry flour with a wheat-free option using spelt flour.  When I was gathering my ingredients I discovered that I had NO whole wheat pastry flour so I used the spelt option. I really liked the results. No “wheaty” taste that some folks object to. The dough was somewhat crumbly but packed well into a tablespoon scoop. I flattened each cookie and baked them for 9 minutes instead of 11.  A real winner! Makes about 24-30 cookies.

Macadamia Nut Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is a keeper. It’s made from spelt flour and rolled oats. If you’re unfamiliar with spelt it’s a whole grain and you can find it in the bulk flour section at the natural food store or pre-pacakged by Bob’s Red Mill at Fred Meyers (in the health food section). The recipe also calls for tapioca flour which you can find in the same place. I like this recipe because of the whole grains and you don’t need to use any kind of egg replacer – the tapioca flour takes care of that. I discovered this recipe in The 30-Minute Vegan cookbook. What a great book. I’m hard pressed to complete a recipe in 30 minutes but I tend to dawdle in the kitchen. The recipes I’ve made from this book tend to be complex in flavor and quite tasty! In all honesty, I have to tell you I left out the cinnamon, nuts, and used canola oil. They were delicious! Makes 24 3-inch cookies. Reprinted with permission from veganfusion.com.

Ingredients
1-3/4 cups whole spelt flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 cup chopped macadamia nuts
1 cup dark vegan chocolate chips
2/3 cup pure maple syrup
2/3 cup safflower oil
2 TB water
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift the spelt flour, tapioca flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl. Whisk well and add the oats, nuts, and chocolate chips, stirring again.

In a 2-cup measuring container, combine maple syrup, oil, water and vanilla and whisk together. Add to the dry ingredients and stir well.

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and scoop out your preferred size. I like to use a 1 tablespoon scoop; leave about 2 inches between each cookie. Bake for 10 minutes until lightly browned on edges. Transfer to wire rack to cool.